Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-08-18
TWO UNPUBLISHED LETTERS
fnAR HDaR WRife8R RTJA10s RUOn-
AsAS r0 rH DDs % SfAvRRS.
me snse Of Whsas,and mahss . Rec usss Of ne
on Commosss which Provss fhas -
One rtos rhsy Enjoyed Frsesaiy
Hs,ss,ons Win Esch Other.
y rom the Gett I sburx star and sentinel.

FROM the GettJ sburg star and sentinel.
Thsdieus stevens and James buchanan
were In opinions, party relations and per.
sousl charncteristics In such marked and
constant contrast aud opposition that did
not know they had ever co operated 10 any
thing, except holding Pews in the same
Presbyterian church and was surprised to
lind among Mr.. Stevens preserved letters,
which are comparatively few, two from Mr..
Buchanan which show that at one time in
their respective careers. when Mr.. Stevens
wss In Congress and M Buchanan In pri.
vate life ana before his election to the presi.
dency, their relations were such that Mr..
Buchanan felt ct liberty - ask OF Mr.. Stev-
ems personal service and that Mr.. stevens
promptly ana kindly responded.
The subject matter was not Of large import.
ancs, but Of that personal sort which directly
/ do not know that Mr.. Stevens reply wAs
preserved by MIR. Buchanan. II It Wa 1t
~ss not used by his biogrspher, Mr.. Curtis
who in his two stately volumes found no &C.
cssiou to mention the name Of Thaddeus
StevenA But the reply was evidently such
as to crafty Mr.. Buchanan, and infer from
Mr. Buchansn's second letter Il expressed .
willingness to appoint Mr.. Henry to the next
vacancy for Lancaster county.
All OF the parties named In these letters
arc dead except James Il. Henry, who prob
ably never knew OF the extent Of the efforts
Of hts uncle 70 promote his desire, and
William h Fordney, who in honored old
age in Lancaster is one Of the few rcmainin ]
links between the two generations Mr..
Buchanan, as appears from hts Life, Vol
III, p Is LETT Bedford Springs on the day
Intended, but Mr.. Reigsrt, alone Of those
named in the letter, went with him.
MIR. Henry was prepared In Lancaster for
college by Rev. Dr. +. A. Muhlenberg who,
in 1850 closed his school in order to accept
the 1. reek professorship in Pennsylvania col.
lege !: and MIR. Henry went in October to
Princeton, where he WAS In due time gradu.
ated. He is now prscticing law in the city Of
New York.
Subsequent events drove these two distin.
guished men apart; and believe that on the
last day they met at the wedding, In lS6', OF
DIR. Henry Carpenter, recently deceased, Mr..
Buchanan repelled Mr.. Stevens friendly sd-
biographical history OF Lancaster county, r.
511.
1t is more agreeable now to recall the days,
seventeen years earlier when they were
willirg each to do the other personal kind
mesa
Mr.. Buchsnan's piqued sllusion to "the
families who are constantly on the watch 70
quarter their scions on the government Is q
happy, almost plsintive, touch OF nature.
And the curious contrast Of dates, made in
his second letter, is suggestion OF methods
long familiar to MIN and yet existing In full
force and activity.
1t is also interesting to note the glowing
terms in which Mr.. Buchanan refers TO Gen.
Zachary Taylor, then recently deceased.
Excellent and glorious old man " are
warm words, which Mr.. Buchanan did not
often use but they were true wordA Had
that great old man been permitted to live
and fully settle the issues of lS50, the country
would, most probably, have been spared for
many year, the great convulsion which his
death accelerated, and whose eliminating
movements, ten years later, dsrkened the
close OF Mr.. BuchsnSn's administration, cast
upon Mr.. Buchanan Q shadow from which hs
never emerged, and un nquestiopsbly impaired
the respect tor both his character and abilities
| which the country would, otherwise, hsvt
| more generally felt.
The lettern are appended.
+. MCPHERSON.
l GETTysRyRo, Aug. To- lsS7,